A HIP process is known in which the alloy raw material, in powder form, is introduced into a specially shaped deformable canister which defines the shape of the desired component, and is usually formed from a mild steel or stainless steel. The canister is filled with a metal or a composite powder, the chamber is evacuated and sealed, and the canister is subjected to hot isostatic pressing using elevated temperatures and pressures, thereby consolidating the powder particles, and bonding these powder particles to form the resultant near net shaped component.
The canister is then removed either mechanically using machining or chemically using a pickling process, or a combination of these processes. The cost and timescales involved in both processes can make near net processing less attractive from both an environmental and cost perspective. A method of removing the metal canister post HIP that does not require either of these processes would be advantageous. It is an object of the present invention to seek to provide an improved method of separating a canister from a processed component.